Chapter 26

Luffy started his fifth mouth to mouth when Apoo got eaten, and all the while, Nami still hadn't moved.

"Nami! Breathe! I'm begging you!"

No gesture from her.

"That's impossible!" He declared, starting the mouth-to-mouth again.

"Why did this sort of thing happen to him? This girl was always by my side, scolding me, giving me orders, consoling me and above all laughing with me! No, I don't want to see her die. »

Clenching his fists, he affirmed.

"No! I can't let my friends die anymore! Stay with me! I beg you, Nami."

Raising his eyes towards the sky, he began to contemplate the gray clouds which hovered above his head and before starting to roar in the direction of the supreme being who was high in the sky.

"That makes you laugh, doesn't it? ASSHOLE! You call yourself god, but if you let my friends die without reacting, I don't see why I would respect you."

As if God wanted to answer him, suddenly lightning was heard.

"Do you want to let us die here?" Luffy questioned him, crying with rage. "In your dreams! My friends and I will survive! With or without your help."

Then, inhaling a large amount of air, he puffed out his cheeks, before doing mouth-to-mouth again. It was then that he felt water appear in Nami's mouth. A sound came from the girl's throat as she tried to cough. Then, she moved her body a little, while she managed to spit out a little sea water.

"Nami?" Luffy wondered, amazed to finally see a sign of life emanating from her.

Immediately grabbing her by her shoulders, he began shaking her, screaming.

"You're alive, aren't you? Tell me you're alive! Say something! Are you okay?"

His only response was a punch, as Nami hitted him to stop him shaking her.

"Stop it! Asshole."

Nevertheless, weakened, she began to cough again. Then, she winced, as she felt the pain caused by her injured shoulder. Carefully touching it, Nami finally remembers the Ambulocetus attack and the fact that she was certain to drown.

"I... Am I alive?"

Then, she stared at Luffy who, on the ground, was completely soaked.

"Luffy...You...You came to save me?"

In response, the boy gave a thumbs up, affirming.

"I would always save my friends."

"But... But you can barely swim! How did you manage to save me among these gigantic waves?"

"I swam." Luffy told him simply.

Then, straightening up, he began to smile at her, while affirming.

"I'm glad I saved you."

Not far from the duo, three silhouettes were contemplating the horizon.

"They're all dead..." Sanji muttered. "Koza...Pudding...and even Apoo."

Clenching his fists, he stared at the ocean, before roaring.

"You morons! If you hadn't betrayed us! You don't... You don't..."

"Sorry to say but… if they hadn't betrayed us, we would have died with them." Law retorted.

Hearing this, Sanji was going to retort. However, he ends up falling on the sand, before hitting the ground with his fist.

"DAMN IT! Why did we attempt something so suicidal?"

" Nobody could have foreseen that such a monster would be found in the ocean. " Law retorted. "Besides, it doesn't make any sense."

Starting to think, the boy thought.

"The basilosaurus is a sea monster! It can therefore easily swim in the open sea and far from this island! In this case, why does no one seem to have seen such a monster swimming in our oceans?"

"Where are Luffy-san and Nami-san?" Shirahoshi asked, trying to make them out through the heavy rain. "Don't tell me they died too."

For his part, Sanji remained completely still, as he declared.

"We can't take any more for them! Luffy probably drowned… and Nami… In the end, I couldn't do anything to save them."

Barely glancing at him, Law shrugged, before walking in a particular direction.

"Instead of feeling sorry unnecessarily, look over there."

Looking ahead, he saw two distinct figures in the rain.

"It can only be them."

"What?" Sanji wondered.

Seeming to see them, Luffy was walking towards them, while he was carrying Nami on his back.

" TRA-O ! WEAKHOSHI ! SANJI ! "

Then the cook saw him put on his usual smile.

"That guy...only old age can kill him." Law affirmed. "And still, I'm sure he will live 200 years."

"It stings!" Nami complained, grimacing.

The storm had reached its peak and we had to find refuge in a cave to be able to protect ourselves from the rain. Inside, Shirahoshi was beginning to heal Nami's wound from the ambulocetus. For this, she gave her antibiotics before disinfecting her wound with a bottle of alcohol.

"Sorry, but Law-san assured me it was the best way to avoid infection."

At the bottom of the cavity, wiping his computer, Law tried, at the same time, to make it work. It must be said that recovering it was one of his first gestures, after the group gathered. Now that they had to stay on the island, it was important not to lose their only source of information on the creatures of this place.

As for Sanji, he sat at the entrance of the cave and watched the rain fall. Wanting to know what he was thinking, Luffy decided to join him.

" Hey, how are you ? "

Having a cigarette between his lips, the boy remained motionless. Waiting a few seconds, Luffy was about to repeat his question to him, when his friend questioned him.

" How are you doing ? "

" Enough to ? "

"How do you manage to make your group obey you without attracting any resentment?"

"I just respect my friends." Luffy replied. "I respect their faults as well as their qualities! Thus, Law is sometimes antisociable, but he is intelligent and frank! Weakhoshi is fearful and often useless! But she makes efforts to no longer be an annoyance! As for Nami, even if She's not a great fighter, she's tough and knows how to make decisions when Law is out of ideas! Without one of those three, my group would be destroyed very quickly."

"I trusted them too and thought we were a tight-knit group! And now I don't know what to think! I thought I knew them but...Pudding's crazy look told me otherwise. Now I wonder! Did they intend to betray me at the first danger? Would Koza have done like them? Did Pudding see me as a simple bodyguard? "

Then, he shook his head, declaring.

"How could I be so blind?"

"You did your best." Luffy assured. "You protected and led them! You have nothing to reproach yourself with! Apoo and Pudding wanted to betray you and they were punished."

'Maybe but...but...'

Clenching his fist, he confessed.

"This cave...this is where we met."

" Huh ? "

"After my escape from the plane, I quickly met Pudding and decided to go to the ocean, to try to find a boat! And during a rain, we took refuge here! This is where we met Apoo and Koza! In fact, before our plane crash, I didn't know Pudding or Apoo! And I felt a certain jealousy towards Koza, knowing that Vivi-san potentially had feelings for him! But... after that, I considered them my friends. And now Koza got eaten and the others are dead after betraying us."

Then, turning around, he had the impression of seeing the silhouette of his former companions, sitting at the bottom of the cave, while the blond was with them, talking to them or laughing with them.

Again a tear rolled down his cheek as he asked.

"After that...how could I ever trust people again?"

"Sanji...you can trust me." Luffy retorted. "Besides, you're already part of our group! Don't forget that."

Then, looking at Sanji with conviction, he affirmed.

"Sanji...many of our friends are somewhere on this island waiting to be found! And for that, I need you."

Then, the blonde saw him reach out his hand.

"Sanji…do you want to join my team?"

Remaining motionless for a few moments, Sanji suddenly displayed a faint smile, before affirming.

"Bakayaro! Do you think I have other choices? Besides, I know you! You will refuse my refusal."

"YEAH ! "

"So what are we going to do now?" Shirahoshi wanted to know.

"Wanting to stay here is risky now." Law asserted. "Now that he has found prey here, the andrewsarchus could come back at any time! Better to go away as long as he is not around! In any case, there is no question of s "Flee by sea, in a raft! With one or more basilosaurus in the area, our boat, as solid as it is, would have a good chance of ending up like the first."

"Anyway, he's not the only danger lurking underwater." Nami stated. "Nevertheless, if I see the monster that hurt me again, I will make him regret not killing me."

"In any case, we should think about strengthening our arsenal."

Putting his hand on his saber which he had managed to find, he declared.

"Even the three of us barely managed to hurt this monster! It's worrying."

"That's why we have to find a safe place first." Nami stated.

Gazes lost in the distance, they looked one last time at the maritime landscape that this place offered them. The sky had turned blue again and the sea had calmed down. Except for a few details, it was the same landscape they had seen for the first time when they arrived here.

On the beach, the storm had brought back the remains of their raft. It was of course unusable. But as Law had just clarified, they weren't planning on using him again.

"Indeed." Luffy finally said. "Our priority is to find a safe place so that Nami can quickly recover from her injury."

Having a splint, made with branches, the redhead had to wait several days to be able to reuse her arm. Complete rest was necessary to ensure a good recovery.

"Nobody has any protests?" Luffy wanted to know. "In that case, if everyone is of the same mind, it's time for us to pack up."

As they gathered their things, Sanji examined the wreckage of the raft, looking for materials that could still be used. Finally, he got his hands on something that interested him at first glance.

"Hey, Sanji." Luffy called him. "We're about to leave! So either you stay here or hurry to join us."

"Wait a second! I'll be right there."

At that moment, he took a piece of wood from the raft and planted it on the ground like a kind of tombstone. Then he placed some objects, which Luffy couldn't identify, at his feet. Once done, he ends up joining his news companions.

"It's good." He assured.

"So are you ready to join us?" Shirahoshi asked him.

"Of course!" he assured, doing his love dance around Shirahoshi and Nami. "Shira-neesan! Nami-swan! Count on me to protect you."

Using her good arm, Nami punched him to calm him down.

"Calm down, jerk."

For his part, Luffy just laughed, before saying.

"All I have to say to you Sanji is: welcome aboard!"

Then, the small group left to join the forest. But, as they moved away from the ocean, a small gust of wind brought a few grains of sand on the objects that Sanji had just placed in front of his tombstone. There was a shoe from Koza, which the andrewsarchus had not swallowed...a piece of Pudding's t-shirt, which had gotten stuck in a piece of the raft, and Apoo's pair of glasses, brought back by the current, thanks to a veritable miracle.

" Farewell, friends! And hoping that we can reconcile in the next life. Sanji thought, feeling a tear roll down his cheek.

With Luffy: Law / Shirahoshi / Nami / Sanji

With Katakuri: Perospero / Daifuku / Oven / Tashigi (teacher)

With Ace : Thatch / Moda / Marguerite / Whitey Bay / Namur / Atmos / Goldenweek / Gaimon / Squardo / Tate

Other passengers: Usopp / Coby / Vivi / Zoro / Chopper / Johnny / Yosaku / Kid / Wapol / Musshru / Smoker (teacher)

Died: Dalton (pilot) / Kaya / AO / Mero / Curiel / T-Bone (teacher) / Koza / Pudding / Apoo

? : Who is who